


Solitude, Solace, Safety

by writing_out_my_inner_voices



Category: Dungeons and Daddies (Podcast)
Genre: Comfort, Cute, Fluff, Friendship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-23
Updated: 2020-09-29
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:01:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26069149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writing_out_my_inner_voices/pseuds/writing_out_my_inner_voices
Summary: The boys are swimming, and Grant's lost in thought.Emotions are hard, and so is opening up.But in the end, it'll be worth it.
Comments: 6
Kudos: 35





	1. Chapter 1

It wasn’t that swimming was boring, far from it, but it was a bit boring to just jump through the waterfall, into the water, swim, and climb back out to do it all over again, and it only offered so much solace before Grant had to just give up, sitting instead on the edge of the pool. 

He watched the other boys either jump into the pool, toss someone else into the pool, play-fight and then dramatically ‘die’ into the pool, or cannonball right into the pool.

Terry Jr., Lark, Sparrow, and Nick, in that order. 

He enjoyed the solitude, the peace, for as long as it existed, until thoughts started weaving into his head, and he lost the feeling of cold in his feet, the harsh crumble of dirt under his hands. 

The feeling of peace and calm in his chest, replaced with a numb broken ache that didn’t feel like much of everything, but felt like a lot of everything.

_I don’t feel anything._

Seconds, minutes, maybe hours passed, he wasn't sure. But it took him a moment to realize the tapping against his knee wasn’t his imagination, or phantom sensations, and he glanced down to find Terry Jr. staring at him, a concerned, expectant look on his face.

“You okay?”

Grant had to think about that, if he was okay or not, which really didn’t bode well for him at all, but that was that, and he felt nothing, and life was an inevitable pile of shit at the moment.

He shrugged, and TJ grimaced in sympathy. He gestured for Grant to move over, which Grant did, and moved to climb up out of the pool and sit next to him,.

The silence enveloped them both, the only thing truly grounding Grant to the present was the fact that Terry Jr. was sitting so close he could feel stray drops of water falling and hitting his hand. He could reach out and take TJ’s hand if he really wanted to, and stared at it.

_Remember what happened with Yeet, and how you royally fucked that up?_

Grant snatched his hand back, the sudden movement something TJ noticed, and offered him a confused look. Grant shrugged in response, avoiding his gaze, fingers clasped in his lap as he looked over the water, the other boys, lost in thought.

“We’re here for you, Grant.”

He looked over at TJ, who was watching the other boys, giving him a moment of privacy from being stared down, and Grant gratefully took it, felt a bit more settled, calmed down a bit more.

“Thanks, TJ.”

_That_ had Terry Jr. turning his head to look back at him, grinning in surprise and amusement.

“TJ, huh?”

Grant’s cheeks heated up and he answered by reaching out...and shoving Terry Jr. into the water, laughing at the way he flailed and came back up to the surface.

“Alright, Wilson, you asked for it.”

He felt something curl around his foot, and realized about a second too late what would happen before it did. 

TJ dragged him into the water, and Grant yelped before he was caught in it, gasping in shock when he finally broke the surface and looked over at Terry Jr., who looked far too smug.

“How dare you.”

“Get wrecked, _gamer._.”

Grant swept an arm through the water, splashing TJ with a small wave, and in the midst of their battle in the water, safety washed over him, enveloped him, and he settled just a bit more, noticing the rough craggy ground of the pool under his feet.

_I’m okay. I’m here. I’m safe. I’m alive._


	2. Chapter 2

Terry Jr. wasn’t quite sure when he started falling apart at the seams, but he knew it was sometime between when his father died and when Ron crashed into his life with a foreboding, monotonous ‘hi, I’m Ron’, and his mother looked at this bizarre stranger like she had looked at his dad.

He unraveled, and home became a place to escape, not to stay in. It took a lot to find hobbies that Ron couldn’t invade on, which was how Terry Jr. managed to sneak onto the soccer team without anyone knowing.

Three months later, and a wild harsh angst burning through him with no way out, he was quickly deemed captain. Which was about the point his coach told his mother, who then told Ron.

By some miracle, or maybe because she could catch the way Terry Jr. glared at Ron whenever he tried to help the boy practice kicks or goals or whatever, Ron didn’t invade his space as much as before, and Terry Jr. found a semblance of relief in kicking a ball as hard as he fucking could across a field, or in the backyard, or in the street.

Most times he imagined Ron’s head. Sometimes, he imagined his dad’s tombstone. Other times, there wasn’t really anything in particular beyond emotions boiling up and threatening to burst out of him in tears, which was the last thing he needed to deal with at this point. So kicking a ball until his foot ached in protest was the next best thing.

At least, until Grant showed up one day.

He still remembered that day being a rather angsty one, which was impressive, given most of his days were angsty. 

He’d been practicing kicking, practicing making goals, practicing feint moves, swearing far more than normal, but still managing to do awesome with his practicing. And all knowledge managed to just throw itself out of his brain when he saw a new kid on the field, the coach talking to him with rather impressive hand gestures and pointing him out.

_Oh shit, I have to be cool. But like, also just be cool._

He wasn’t sure if it was by the fates of deities or just damn good luck, but he managed to kick the ball up, bounce it on his knee, and then step back and launch it right into the goal.

Even without really being able to see the new kid’s expression, he could tell the other was impressed, and wiped an arm across his forehead. 

With some relief flooding him that he made a good impression, he went to grab his water bottle, nearly choking on water when he found his shoulder tapped and new kid staring at him, a shy smile on his face.

“Hi, I’m Grant. Coach said you’re the captain?”

Terry Jr. offered him a grin, despite his heart pounding away like a drum in his chest, grateful that the sudden rush of blood to his cheeks could be blamed on exercising and not on being flustered.

“Hell yeah. I’m Terry Jr. Nice to meet you.”

“You too.”

There was a moment of silence and Terry Jr. faltered a bit, swallowing a bit more water before setting the bottle aside and tilting his head back towards the goal.

“Want to show me what you got, newbie?”

That earned him a smile from Grant.

“H-Hell yeah.”

**Author's Note:**

> I love these boys more than anything else. ;-;
> 
> Still working on the newest chapter for my DnDads fic, and it's taking a bit longer than expected, but I wanted to write a little unrelated oneshot drabble. For fun.


End file.
